Loving The Unlovable
by xXAngelOfTheOceanXx
Summary: 17-year-old Kryssi Smith has always been that "anti-social" type of girl. She was notorious for turning down every guy that took an interest in her. But when she and her friends stay at the infamous Camp Crystal Lake, Kryssi's whole life will be changed.
1. Chapter 1

Note: I don't own anything other than my own characters... On with the story! :)

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Ch. 1 –

"Come one Kryssi, cheer up! I thought you'd like being out here in the middle of nowhere!" Nineteen-year-old Miranda Grove smiled at her brooding friend while she ran her slim, manicured fingers through her perfectly straight dyed-blond hair.

"I would have," Kryssi replied, "Until I found out that you were bringing some random-ass people that you met _two days ago!_" She placed great emphasis on the last three words.

"Aw, chill out Krys," their guy friend Dillon Blake remarked as he turned his 2005 Ford F-150 onto a bumpy dirt road. "Just because you haven't sent them through your demonic gauntlet friend test doesn't mean that they aren't okay people."

The fourth passenger, raven-haired, fifteen-year-old Beth Copper, giggled at Dillon's remark and fluttered her eyelashes at him behind his back.

"Besides," Miranda continued, twisting in her seat to look at Kryssi, (Who sat slumped against the back passenger window pouting.) "You can't just have four friends for the rest of your life. You'll have to venture out of your dark little hole eventually."

The shaggy-haired brunette humphed at the older girl's words and scratched idly at a bug bite on her darkly-tanned forearm. "I can still try," she muttered under her breath.

"Jeeze you're such an emo girl!" Dillon teased as he wrestled to keep the truck going in a straight line. The road they were traveling was full of pot-holes and wash boards.

"I am not," she retorted after sticking her tongue out at him. "If I was emo I'd wear all black and be uncommonly pale."

"Well you sure do have the scars to be one," Miranda pointed out with a good-natured chuckle.

Kryssi frowned darkly at the back of the blonde's head and raised her fingers to touch the gruesome scars that marred the left side of her otherwise pretty face. They stretched from her hairline over one emerald-green eye, down past her hard-set jaw, and ended just above her collarbone.

Without replying to the comment, the seventeen-year-old clambered out of the Ford as it came to a stop in front of the deserted Camp Crystal Lake. After brushing food crumbs off of her worn-out camo pants she stretched out her cramped muscles and took in a deep breath of crisp forest air.

"All right!" Dillon crowed excitedly as he, Miranda, and Beth joined Kryssi at the front of the vehicle. "Let's get to camping!"


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2 –

The fire popped and crackled as Dillon slowly fed wood to the growing blaze. He, Miranda, Kryssi, and Beth had been joined by three other people as they unloaded their gear from Dillon's car earlier that day. Twenty-year-old Adam Smith was the oldest of the group and he was accompanied by his best friend Drew and younger sister Brooke. The lanky, auburn-haired girl wouldn't take her eyes off of Dillon.

Kryssi sat closest to the large sprawling lake, her legs curled up to her chest as tiny waves lapped at the sandy shore behind her. The others were happily chatting away as they roasted marshmallows that Beth had packed, laughing and mingling and being disgustingly buddy-buddy while the brooding teen watched on in silence.

"So how old are you?" Drew suddenly asked, scooting closer to her.

"Seventeen," came her muttered reply. "You?" Oh, how she hated her inbred Southern manners.

Grinning as she nibbled at his conversational bait, the boy replied, "I'm almost seventeen too! How cool is that?"

"Wonderful," she mumbled under her breath, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She knew that the annoying, sandy-haired boy could feel the waves of dislike that rolled off of her body, but he was persistent.

"So, do you have like a boyfriend or anything?" he inquired, scooting even closer.

"No," she replied pointedly, her frown deepening as his forearm brushed against her elbow.

But as Drew chattered away in her ear, the hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle, as if someone was watching her. And when she turned her head, she caught Miranda's gaze before the older girl quickly looked away.

"So what do you think?" Drew's words pulled Kryssi from her thoughts.

"About what?"

"About me silly!" the boy chuckled.

"Oh… you're okay I guess," she answered before getting to her feet.

"I'm gonna call it an early night," she stated as she stepped over the log she'd been sitting on and waving goodnight to her friends. (She purposefully ignored the three newcomers.)

"Oh, you're going to have to sleep by yourself Krys," Miranda piped up, shrugging her shoulders apologetically. "There aren't enough bunks for all of us in one cabin. But I went ahead and put your things outside of the cabin you can use."

"That's fine," the brunette replied, turning to head for the long row of run-down wooden buildings.

But she didn't get far before someone ran up to her.

"I'll walk with you," Dillon offered, falling into step beside her with a crooked grin.

"You don't have to," Kryssi replied, sidestepping a large broken stick.

"Yeah but I want to," he countered as he bumped his shoulder against hers.

"I don't know if the girls would like me much if you did," the teen warned, playfully socking him back.

"What girls?" he questioned with a puzzled look.

"Oh come on," she replied, rolling her eyes. "It's so obvious that Beth and that Brooke chick are seriously checking you out."

"Well, I really don't care what they think," he said in return, smiling again.

"Okay fine whatever, dork," Kryssi laughed as the two of them headed for her cabin.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3 –

* Earlier That Day *

The Predator watched silently as the group of teenagers invaded his territory. His blood boiled at the sight of them, and his fist clenched on the hilt of his machete. He would have to kill them, just like he'd been doing for years. It was what his mother wanted. He knew that, even though she would never speak to him any more.

His piercing black gaze raked over the seven children, and in his mind's eye he could see their deaths as he picked them off one by one…

He would take the thin blond boy first. 'Dillon', they had called him. It would be too easy for the Predator. A twitch of the hand would be more than enough to break the boy in two.

The small raven-haired girl, Beth, would go next. She would be the first to notice that Dillon had gone missing; He could see it in the way that she fawned over him. And when she came looking for the boy, all that _He_ had to do would be to sink his blade into her soft, pliant flesh.

Like dominoes they would fall. He would learn their names, like he did every time that someone invaded his sanctuary. They could always see it in his eyes, the knowledge of who they were before they saw no more. Already he knew most of their names. Dillon. Beth. Adam. Drew. Miranda. Brooke.

But the last girl had the Predator pausing. She seemed… different than the others. Not as loud and annoying. She was more quiet and withdrawn than her rowdy companions, and more than once he had seen them looking at her with the same expressions that others had turned on him when he had still been alive.

He wouldn't know why until that night…


	4. Chapter 4

Ch. 4 –

"Wow, its really dark out here," Dillon remarked as he and Kryssi neared the girl's cabin. Two cabins down she could see everyone else's stuff gathered on the rickety front porch, while her few bags lay heaped against her door, alone.

"Gosh, do you guys think I have the plague or something?" she asked as she ascended the creaking steps and began fumbling with an unlit lantern.

"Nah," the blond replied with a laugh. "Miranda tried to put you in one of the ones right next to ours, but she said that they were all to messed up for you to sleep in. She said that this was the closest one she could get."

"Oh," Kryssi mumbled before cussing softly and sticking her burnt finger in her mouth. The lighter she had been trying to use clattered to the ground.

"Would you like a hand?" her companion offered as she retrieved the small blue object.

"Nah, I got it," she answered right before the light flared to life. "The second time's always the charm."

Dillon laughed as he replied, "I don't think that's how that saying goes."

While he spoke Kryssi moved to her bags, shifting them aside to unblock her door. "Yeah well it's the way I say it so whoever has a problem with it can say it to my face." Her words brought another chuckle from the eighteen-year-old.

"You know, you're kind of sexy," he said after a few minutes, leaning against one of the porch rails as he spoke.

Kryssi froze at his unexpected words, straightening up to look at him quizzically.

"Um… Thanks?" she replied uncertainly.

An awkward silence stretched between the two friends until finally the younger girl turned back to her bags.

"You know how I feel about guys and dating, Dillon," she murmured quietly as she focused solely on clearing her door.

"Yeah, but give me a chance to change your mind," he replied with a smirk before grabbing the brunette roughly by her shoulders and spinning her around to face him.

"What the hell are you doing?" she exclaimed in horror as he shoved her against the cabin's wall, using the weight of his body to pin the smaller teen. She struggled in his unexpectedly strong grasp, using her hands to try and claw at the exposed flesh of his arms and face.

"Shhh," he hushed her, his hands moving down to pin her wrists as he cut off the stream of curse words issuing from her mouth with his own lips.

"Stop!" Kryssi cried, tearing away from his forced kiss. Tears streamed down her face as she wiggled desperately in his grasp. "Let me go Dillon!"

"Come on baby," he replied huskily. She could feel him grow hard against her. "Don't be like this."

"No!" she whimpered, her eyes squeezing shut while he began to undo the buttons of her pants.

She tried to kick at him, to do anything to escape his forced attentions. But seconds later she collapsed to the rickety wooden porch as Dillon's weight suddenly vanished. Her legs curled up to her chest and sobs tore from her constricted chest. Her eyes opened and she let out a strangled scream at the sight that greeted her…


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 5 –

They were making it too easy for him. The Predator watched as two of the teens left the protection of their friends and headed into the darkness towards the cabins. He skirted the larger group and, using the shadows for cover, trailed after the wanderers. He watched as the two talked in quiet voices and the girl fumbled with a rusted lantern. But the Predator was taken aback as she finally got the lantern to work. As he saw the disfiguring scar that slashed across her cream-colored skin.

His gaze was riveted on her while she busied herself moving her things and conversing with the Dillon boy. He began to feel something that was new to him. Emotions that he never even knew existed roiled through his big body as the image of the girl's face seared itself into his memory. There was wonderment, curiosity, and others that he didn't even know the names of.

But rage soon became his dominant emotion as he watched Dillon suddenly force himself onto the brunette. He couldn't help himself as he launched forward, eating up the distance between himself and the struggling pair with long strides. He took the stairs in one leap and grabbed the back of the boy's shirt, yanking him off of the distraught girl and tossing him easily to the ground. The Predator knew that the others couldn't see or hear them. They were too far away. So he reveled in the horrified yell that emanated from Dillon as he descended on him, machete drawn. Blood splattered over the dirt and sparse blades of grass, coating them with crimson dew as the life left the teen. The gaping slash upon the boy's chest revealed his shredded internal organs and shards of ivory bone as his body went limp and collapsed into the bloody dust.

Then the Predator turned, his black gaze falling upon the shocked face of the girl. She lay curled up against the wall, clutching her hands against her chest as her own emerald-green eyes met his. He saw the fear there, as he did every time someone saw him kill, but he also saw a hint of relief and appreciation. Tears cut tracks across her blood-drained face, and she trembled like a frightened horse.

Slowly he took a step towards her, letting his bloody blade fall to his side as he paused on the first porch step.

And then he watched as her bright, fear-stricken green eyes fluttered shut and her lithe body slumped over to the side. She had passed out…


	6. Chapter 6

Ch. 6 –

_Dillon was calling to her… But she wouldn't go to him. Couldn't! She could see the blood and gore that covered his body, even in the dim light. He reached out to her, the look in his glazed-over eyes pleading. She tried to run away, but it was if her feet were a part of the ground beneath her… She was frozen. Paralyzed… _

"Ngh…" Kryssi tossed and turned on the dirt-stained mattress, her hands clenching into fists upon the twisted sheets…

_She was being chased, but she didn't know who it was. All she could see was a dark figure in the shadows of the trees… And the glint of blood-stained metal. But this time she could run and she did, the heels of her worn combat boots digging into the dirt and propelling her forward, bound by bound, away from whoever was chasing her. Unfortunately she didn't get far before a large, calloused hand caught her by the arm and yanked the teen to a stop. She stumbled and struggled in the tight grasp, letting out a scream of terror…_

"GAH!" The brunette shot up into a sitting position with a strangled yelp, panting heavily as sweat dripped down her face. She blinked rapidly to clear her dream-hazed vision, and then let out a small gasp.

She was underground. She could easily tell by the drafty, musty air that surrounded her and filled her laboring lungs. The room she was in was cluttered with junk and knick-knacks that she overlooked quickly. Meager light seeped into the space from large air vents that were blocked off with thick chicken wire, and the teen could tell that it was very late at night or probably close to morning. The walls around her were packed dirt, held up by wooden support beams. She guessed that this place must have once been a mine, but she also knew that whoever had brought her here was _no _miner. Then she attempted to rise, swinging her legs over the edge of the lumpy mattress and struggling to her feet, but she was immediately stopped by a thick manacle attached to her left wrist. Thick chains jangled softly as Kryssi tried to wiggle the rusted restraint off of her, but to no avail. They remained strong and held her fast to a large rung attached to the wall above the makeshift bed.

As the teen was distracted with freeing herself, she didn't even notice the soft footsteps that were slowly growing louder with each passing second. But soon enough she did hear, her head whipping around to find the source of the ominous sound. The steps were slow; measured. Kryssi shrank back against the wall beside her, hugging her arms to her chest as the person belonging to the footfalls came closer to her…

The Predator had already hidden Dillon's body and he had taken the brunette, Kryssi, away from the others. But for some strange, unknown reason he was anxious for the girl to wake up. He needed to know that she was okay. And yet no matter how many times he returned to her, she still lay unmoving… This was starting to get frustrating.

His big shoulders slumped slightly as he traversed the winding tunnels of the underground mine shafts he called home. Not that anything felt like home to him anymore. He hadn't felt like a place was his true home for quite some time now. This place was just where he stayed. Where he slept and ate and thought… And planned. A base of operations, to say the least; but not his home. He didn't think that he would ever have a home again…

Still lost in thought, he didn't even notice that the teen was wide awake and watching as he rounded the corner into her line of sight. But at her soft intake of breath his sharp gaze shot to her, his hand unconsciously clenching on the hilt of his recently-cleaned machete.

But he didn't want to frighten her. He forced himself to relax, to let his hand fall back to his side as their gazes met. He noted how her deep green eyes so easily conveyed her emotion, and how she tried so hard to put on a brave façade. But still he saw the fear in her. Even she couldn't hide how her own body betrayed her. How it quaked slightly and how the blood drained from beneath her tanned, dirt-smeared skin…

"Who are you?"

Her question, spoken in a soft, quavering voice, pulled the Predator from his thoughts once again and he blinked slowly, focusing on her. But he couldn't speak to answer her question, so he just stood there silently.

But then Kryssi remembered… The story that Dillon had shared with her and her friends right before they had reached the camp…


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! I'm glad that yu're all enjoying my story! And just to let you know, I don't think tis chapter is as good as the others, so give me some comments on it an I may be redoing it later! But enjoy this version for now! **

Ch. 7 –

_"Hey did you know some people say that a kid drowned out at the camp a long time ago?" Dillon says as the four friends pull out of a small gas station. Beth is already holding onto the blond boy's every word, and Miranda is trying to feign nonchalance, but even she is interested. Only Kryssi really doesn't give a crap. She's too busy brooding, as always. _

_"What happened to him?" Miranda finally inquires while she meticulously files her perfectly manicured, French Tipped nails._

_"Well I heard that he supposedly drowned in the lake, but then something happened and he came back to life just in time to see his mother get killed." The teen grins slyly as Miranda's eyes widen. _

_"Why would they kill his mom?" Beth asks in a slightly trembling voice._

_"Cause," Dillon answers, "she was the cook at the camp, and the counselors were off making out and having sex while her son drowned, so she ended up going crazy and killing them. But one of the only surviving counselors managed to behead her, and the story goes that her son saw it, and now he lives in the forest around the camp killing anyone that invades his territory."_

_By this time Kryssi has tuned in and her green gaze is fixed on Dillon. "What was the boy's name?" she probes._

_Dillon thinks for a moment, his brows furrowed in thought. But soon it comes to him._

_"His name was Jason Voorhees," the boy answers…_

"You're Jason…" Kryssi whispered as she finally came back to the present. She saw the older man start at her words, and then a second later he nodded slowly.

"What do you want?" the teen whimpered, her eyes stinging with salty tears. She had always been the brave one in her group, getting rid of the spiders and roaches that made Miranda and Beth scream in terror. But even she had her limits, and being kidnapped by a strange, supposedly dead man in a scratched up, dirt-stained hockey mask was quite beyond that said limit...

Still, the man before her remained silent, and eventually he turned away and disappeared around a corner, the heels of his boots thumping softly on the packed-earth floor.

When his steps finally faded, Kryssi collapsed back onto the creaky mattress, her head falling into her hands and her elbows resting on her knees as her slim body shudders uncontrollably. Dillon was dead, and the others probably hadn't even noticed that they were gone. Would the brunette ever see her companions again? Or would they meet the same fate that the blond boy had?

As these thoughts raced through the teen's mind, she was startled by a loud jingling. And when she looked for the source of the sound, she saw a long string of bells hanging from the low dirt ceiling. Realizing that these must be how Jason knew where people were, she leapt to her feet, horrified at one of her friends being caught by the murderer.

"_NO_!" Kryssi screamed, yanking wildly at her restraints. She _had_ to get herself free. She had to save her friends!

But her efforts were all in vain…


	8. Chapter 8

Ch. 8 –

"I'm gonna go have a smoke," Miranda announced several minutes after Kryssi and Dillon had left. "Anyone wanna join me?"

"I'll come," Drew replied, getting to his feet and following after the girl. The two headed towards the parked cars, leaving the fire and muted conversations of the others far beyond earshot. Once they had reached their destination Miranda leaned up against Dillon's Ford and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her purse, along with a small purple lighter.

"So what's the deal with that Kryssi chick?" Drew asked after the blond had lit up. He lounged casually against Adam's car, arms crossed over his chest. "She got a problem or something?"

"She's always like that," Miranda replied, blowing a cloud of rancid smoke into the warm night air as she spoke. "She's just a little Emo b*tch."

"But I thought you were her friend?" the younger boy questioned, moving to perch next to her on the bumper of the truck.

"Nah, we only hang out with that moody little nobody because it's kinda funny to laugh at her behind her back."

She chuckled as she spoke and took another drag of her cigarette. Drew laughed with her and then let his eyes rake over the blond girl. She noticed this and smirked, letting her own shallow blue gaze wander over his thin, wiry body. And when their glances met, Miranda put out her half-smoked cigarette and leaned into the younger boy, glad that he was at least taller than she was.

Little did they know that they were being watched as they began to make out and move against each other, their clothes slowly crumpling to the ground. And little did they know that they were about to be rudely interrupted…

Kryssi _had_ to get out! To go warn her friends of the danger that was headed their way! So she struggled madly against the restraint that held her, letting out a breathless gasp of joy when her hand finally slid free, albeit a little bloody. Then she dashed away from the dirt mattress and began searching frantically for an exit.

Several minutes later she found a hatch in the dirt ceiling that opened up into one of the old Camp Crystal Lake cabins. With a hysterical bubble of laughter she scrambled to her feet and flew out the door, her head whipping back and forth as she gained her bearings.

But then she heard it. The quiet gasps and moans that emanated from the parked cars mere feet from her. She couldn't see anything, but her curiosity overcame her and she approached the still vehicles slowly, skirting Adam's beige Sedan and stumbling upon Miranda and Drew in the throes of heated lovemaking.

The young brunette let out a strangled cry, her warning driven from her mind as she tumbled backward, having tripped over her own feet, and sprawling in the dust.

"What the hell are you doing?" Miranda cried, her flushed face contorting with anger

"I- I didn't…" the younger girl's words stuttered to a stop as she looked away from their bare, tangled bodies, her own skin flooding with heat.

"Why don't you run off back to Dillon, you little sl*t?" the blond spat nastily.

Kryssi was shocked at her friend's words, and she scrambled back to her feet.

"Dillon's dead," she gasped as tears sprang to her eyes and began to fall down her dirty cheeks. "He was killed by Jason-"

"Shut up b*tch!" the older girl interrupted. "You and your little sex toy need to stop playing games and get the hell out of here. I don't even know why he would wanna screw you in the first place, you freaking weirdo!"

And with these words spoken, Kryssi realized that her 'friends' had been merely using her. They didn't really care about her or her feelings… but as she stood there in shock, tears coursing down her face, she didn't even notice Jason looming up behind her until he pushed her aside and quickly ran his blade through Miranda and Drew, effectively killing them both. Blood dripped down their bare bodies to pool on the ground and when the older man yanked back the blood-stained knife they collapsed to the ground in a heap, still joined together.

Then he turned to the brunette, his black, piercing gaze easily finding her softer, anguished emerald orbs before she whirled around and sprinted away. Jason leapt forward to follow her, expecting her to head for the others by the fireside, but he stumbled to a halt in surprise as her steps took her into the cover of the forest. She was heading back to the mine!


	9. Chapter 9

Ch. 9 –

Kryssi's lungs burned with exertion as she gasped at the humid air and ran blindly into the depths of the forest. She couldn't go back to the people who had lied to her. What would they care? Branches scraped the brunette's face and tree roots tripped her flying feet, as if they were attempting to slow her down. She knew she couldn't run forever, but what did eventually stop her was a complete and painful surprise.

_SNAP!_ Kryssi went down hard, a cry of agony tearing from her parted lips. She looked back over her shoulder, only to scream again at the sight. She was caught in a bear trap, the metal prongs biting mercilessly into the flesh and bone of her left ankle. The pain was horrible. Kryssi screamed and whimpered and sobbed for help as her blood soaked into the dirt and the torn fabric of her camo pants. She tried to pull her leg out, fumbling with shaking fingers at the vicious trap, but it only helped to increase her torture. She could even see the twisted, broken bone of her ankle, held together only by precarious strands of flesh, muscle, and tendon. Twice she had to turn away from her futile attempts at freedom to gag and heave up what little food she'd eaten by the campfire into a small clump of bushes. _I'm gonna die…_ she thought, tears streaming down her cheeks as her vision grew fuzzy from the loss of blood. Out loud, a low moan escaped her chafed throat while her fingers dug into the soft, blood-drenched soil. She sat half propped on her arms, her lower half resting, uncomfortably twisted, upon the litter-strewn forest floor and her caught leg throbbing with pain. Dimly she heard the sound of footsteps behind her, and she did turn her head, but her consciousness was fading and in the dim light of a crescent moon she could only make out a silhouette.

"Jason…" she whispered hoarsely. It took her only moments to recognize his bulky, massive frame, and pathetically she reached out to him for help, collapsing to the ground when her other arm wouldn't support her weight. As he approached her, a soft rain began to fall around them. It was no storm, but it was enough to turn the dirt around Kryssi's body to mud. It seeped onto her skin and into her wound, making her whimper with pain. Jason knelt by her side, turning her onto her back to get her face out of the pooling moisture. His touch was so gentle, so unlike the vicious killer he could be. He moved her body gingerly, as if handling the most fragile china doll, and when he moved to release the torturous trap that held her tethered to the earth, he touched her shoulder comfortingly.

But no amount of soft caresses could deaden the agony that swept through the young brunette's body as the older man quickly released the lever, yanked the jaws open, and pulled her free, leaving behind only torn fragments of fabric and flesh. She opened her mouth to scream, but her exhaustion and lack of blood only allowed her to yelp brokenly. She twisted away from the horrible trap, gasping at the cool night air and gouging her fingers into the mud as she attempted to still her quaking body. Jason lifted her easily into his arms and carried her away, cradling her against his chest as if she were a child. She was surprised at his consideration, but in her present state she couldn't fully appreciate his kindness. So with the gentle rocking motion that his long, measured steps created, the teen sank into a deep, dreamless sleep.

"Uhh…" Kryssi moaned and tossed her head restlessly, her heavy lids peeling back unwillingly. The brunette felt like she could have slept for weeks and still be tired, but something seemed different, and even through her unfocused, sleep-hazed mind, she wanted to know what.

With another low groan she sat up and ran shaky fingers through her tangled hair, her focus suddenly snapping to attention when she found the tresses clean and damp, as if her hair had been washed. Then she looked down and discovered that the clothes adorning her body were not her own. Before she had been wearing work-worn camouflage pants, a simple black t-shirt, and scuffed up combat boots. But now a too-large, faded grey shirt hung limply from her shoulders and a similarly baggy pair of worn jeans graced her waist and legs. A knotted rope encircled her hips to keep the pants from falling down. Gingerly Kryssi took the neckline of the shirt and pulled it over her nose, giving her the comical expression as if she'd just smelled something bad. But on the contrary, when she inhaled deeply, she could only smell Jason. His scent was woodsy; earthy. It wasn't bad, she noted, it just smelled as if he'd spent his whole life in a forest… which, he had.

But then her face flushed as she thought of just how she had gotten into Jason's clothes. She also noticed that her ankle had been set and bound. The cloth bandage was slightly discolored, but this place wasn't exactly a hospital; so she was grateful for what she had. Her skin was also clean, free of mud and blood and the leafy rot that covered the forest's floor.

_He must have…_ she thought, letting the sentence trail off while her skin turned a deeper shade of red. But why go through all this trouble? she then wondered. Before he had kept her chained to the wall, and his demeanor had been cold and distant. Now she was settled comfortably on the same mattress as before, but with a thin blanket covering her legs. She wasn't chained, and he had cleaned her. Why? Was it because she was somewhat like him? Deformed and shunned by the people she had trusted?

Thinking about her former friends sent a pang of sadness through her heart and she curled her legs up to her chest, wincing at the pain in her ankle. A tear escaped and rolled down her face, followed quickly by another, and another. She was sobbing full out when Jason strode around the corner.


	10. Chapter 10

Ch. 10 –

His girl was hurt. That was what Jason saw the young brunette as. He had felt different about her from the start, but at the sight of her, running _away_ from the people she had known and trusted, had just strengthened his resolve to keep her by his side. But now she was badly injured, and worst of all by a trap the he had set himself. A long sigh wracked his big body as he approached his girl, but his steps slowed as he caught the faint sounds of crying. He saw her curled on the bed, legs against her chest and her face buried against her knees. She looked so… lonely. So pitiful by herself on the big worn mattress. Suddenly he realized that Kryssi reminded him of himself, back before he'd drowned in the lake. She even… sort of resembled him. But somehow, the scars that marred her body only added to her strange, unique beauty.

The big man took a slow step forward, announcing his presence as he accidentally knocked over a rusty metal coffee can. Kryssi's head snapped up at the sound, and her tear-bright eyes locked with his. But her next reaction puzzled Jason. Most people either cringed away at the sight of him, screamed, cried, so on and so forth, or before, in Kryssi's case, just watched on warily; but this time her skin flushed a deep, nearly crimson red and she dropped her gaze to stare at a small patch of skin showing through a hole in her jeans. Well, his jeans, but they had been too small for him for quite a while now, and her own clothes had been covered in dirt and blood. He had thought it was a good idea, giving her those clothes. He didn't need them anymore. But the flush of embarrassment seeped down the strong curve of her slender neck, and she fiddled with a loose string, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Thank you," she finally mumbled after a few more silent moments, glancing quickly at him and pushing a stray lock of drying brown hair behind her ear.

Slowly Jason approached her, not even realizing what he was doing until his hand reached out, almost of its own accord, and rested atop her head, his fingers twining into the soft tresses. Suddenly he realized that he wanted Kryssi to like him; to accept him for what he was. But he also knew that it would probably never happen, and his hand fell back to his side. She still hadn't seen him without the protection of his mask, and he was afraid that if she ever did, she too, like everyone else, would run in fear, disgust, and revulsion... With a small sigh he turned to leave, but before he had disappeared from her sight, her tentative, quiet voice broke the silence.

"I… I don't want to go back to them," she murmured, her brow furrowing as she again remembered what Dylan had done to her and the look in Miranda's eyes. She had no one to go to. She had lived alone for a while now. Her gaze lifted, meeting his pleadingly, and even a little hopeful. Her voice was stronger as she continued, "I want to stay here…"

Adam and Beth were alone, sitting around the dying campfire and wondering where the others had gone.

"You don't think they got hurt, do you?" the little black-haired girl intoned quietly, looking around at the surrounding trees. Her wide, innocent brown eyes brimmed with worry and Adam scooted closer to wrap his arm comfortingly around her small shoulders.

"I'm sure they're all just fine," he assured her with a gentle smile. "They're probably waiting to scare us right now."

He laughed at his joke and winked at the younger girl. "Maybe we should go and scare them first," he suggested.

"Maybe," Beth agreed reluctantly, scanning the trees again. She wasn't too fond of the dark. Then she followed Adam as he rose to his feet and headed off towards the cabins.

They walked in silence, skirting around one of the dilapidated buildings and approaching the parked cars. Adam placed a finger to his lips and smirked at Beth before sneaking up to the back bumper of his car and suddenly leaping out, yelling at the top of his lungs.

But quickly that playful yell turned into a horrified scream, and he staggered backwards.

"What is it?" Beth yelped, scampering to his side. But at the sight she found she gagged viciously and buried her face into Adam's chest.

"Oh my God," the taller boy choked out as he stared in shock at the corpses before him. "Drew..."

"Miranda!" Beth sobbed as she clung to Adam's torso. He wrapped his arms around her comfortingly and tried to tear his eyes away from the carnage. But when he finally did, he let out a gasp. Jason loomed before them, dark eyes blazing and weapon drawn. Acting on instinct, Adam shoved Beth out of the way, behind Dylan's pickup, and sacrificed himself to the murdurer's blade. The little black-haired girl whimpered as she scrambled beneath the vehicle, cringing when she splashed through a slick pool of hot blood, and dragged herself to her feet on the other side. She didn't look back to see if the man was following her, but ran for dear life towards the lake, taking a flying leap off the end of the rickety wooden pier and splashing into the grimy water.

The big man did follow her, but stopped in his tracks just before the toes of his boots hit the rotten wood. Memories of his death and the torture he endured before that fateful incident raced through his mind, and he gave a violent shudder before turning and leaving the smallest girl to the mercy of the watery gravesite, vowing to come back for her if the black depths didn't take her first. As he walked Kryssi came to the forefront of his thoughts, and his pace unconciously quickened. He had no idea why he was feeling these things over a girl that he should have killed at the first available oppoutunity, and yet he couldn't help the tightening in his chest at the thought of being in her presence again. The final girl, Brooke, could wait.

_What would Mother think? _he fretted to himself as he came upon one of the markers to his underground residence. The decrepit bus lay on its side in the overgrown forest foliage, and the big man hauled himself up and through the gaping door as he circled endlessly around his answerless thoughts. What was it about the teen that caused this riot in him? He had never even considered the thought of allowing an intruder to live, and much less live _with_ him! But as he continued on towards the girl in question, he couldn't help but imagine what it might be like if she were to stay, and with that a little seed of curiosity was planted deep within him, refusing to be reasoned with or thrust away.

Minutes later he approached the bend, his chest growing tighter notch by notch as he rounded the corner, and saw his girl sprawled across the mattress, deep asleep. Her silky brunette hair fell haphazardly across her shoulders and scarred cheek, fluttering lazily with her every exhale, and the big man slowly approached her svelte form, lowering himself to the ground beside her. That little seed had him itching to be close to her, and he wasn't one to pass up a good oppourtunity, even though that had usually applied to killing someone. Slowly he reached out to brush away the stray locks, his touch heasitant, and not five seconds passed before he got one of the biggest shocks of his life.

Kryssi gave a startled cry as fingers brushed against the raised scars on her cheek and shot up off the bed, instinctively striking out with her fist and connecting with the hard line of Jason's jaw. The big man reared back in surprise, his fingers snapping around her wrist just before she would've hit him again, and blinked quickly to clear his dizzied vision. The teen had a good right hook.

"Oh _crap!_" the brunette yelped as she realized what she'd done. "I'm so sorry!"

She reached out as if to take his face between her hands, but flinched away at the last second like she expected him to reprimand her. Jason was a little hurt, realizing that he didn't want her to fear him at all, and with a nonchalant shrug he rubbed the knuckles of his free hand against his sore jaw before rising to his feet and brushing her sleep-tousled hair away from her cheek. This time she sat still and let his fingers wander almost reverently over the scars, and didn't try and pull her wrist free from his relaxed grip. Then he tapped her marred skin lightly and met her gaze with a questioning look.

"You want to know what happened?" she clarified. When he nodded she sighed heavily and looked away as she gingerly pulled her captured hand from his own calloused one.

"It's a long story," she mumbled as she toyed idly with the edge of the blanket stretched across her legs and shifted to sit cross-legged on the makeshift bed, being careful of her injury. In reply he lowered himself to the ground and mirrored her posture, his machete sticking out at an odd angle from the holster on his hip. She couldn't help but laugh softly at the almost comical picture before her. Then she sighed once more and shoved her fingers through her hair, pausing to gather her thoughts. He waited patiently.

"My mom wasn't the nicest person," she began heasitantly. Their gazes connected, and she saw confusion growing in the dark depths. "Not everyone's mom was as nice or protective like yours was," she pointed out. But before she could continue with the story she was interrupted by a loud jingling. _The bells!_ she gasped internally.

In an instant Jason was on his feet and rushing off in one fluid movement, leaving Kryssi behind trying to figure out how he'd moved so fast. Seconds later she scrambled off the bed, whimpering as she tried to put weight on her left leg, but it wouldn't take it so she looked around desperately for something to lean on. There was no way she was gonna sit here all by herself wondering what was happening on the surface, wether those people were her friends or not. Then she caught sight of a dirty wooden crutch and half-hobbled, half-crawled over to it and used it to limp as fast as she could after Jason. At her back the bell continued to tinkle ominously.


End file.
